Climate change

This combination of pictures created on March 19, 2020 using handout satellite images released by 2020 Planet Labs shows boats in the waters off of San Marco square (C) in Venice, Italy (top) and nearly empty waters off of San Marco square on March 18, 2020, during the novel coronavirus, COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by AFP)

It has been said that due to the outbreak of coronavirus and the nationwide lockdown in Italy, Venice is the clearest it has been in 60 years, and dolphins have been spotted down, swimming in clearer water.

These photos went viral and made headlines as well; swans had returned to deserted Venetian canals in Italy, and a group of elephants had sauntered through a village in Yunnan, China.

These reports of wildlife triumphs in countries hard-hit by COVID-19 got hundreds of thousands of retweets. They went viral on Instagram and other social media platforms.

People kept saying if there is a silver lining of the pandemic, it was this fact that animals were bouncing back, running free in a human-less world, but it was not real.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses: